Frank Robertson's Blog

Mitt Romney's withdrawal from the presidential race means a trend that's been in place for more than 30 years is about to change. Since Jimmy Carter's election in 1976, four out of the last five presidents have been governors. The only exception, of course, was the first President Bush who ran as a sitting vice president. In fact, a sitting member of the U.S. Senate has not been elected President since John F. Kennedy in 1960. That's right, it's been 48 years since a member of the Senate won the White House.

I don't think that happened by accident.  From Carter to Reagan to Clinton to Bush, every one of those Governors portrayed themselves as Washington outsiders.  U-S Senators, on the other hand, are considered the consummate Washington insiders.

 With John McCain now a lock to win the Republican nomination and Senators Clinton and Obama vying for the Democratic nomination, history will be made this year. A U-S senator will become president. It remains to be seen if he or she will govern as well as a governor.